The End of Cookies is a Lie: Here’s Why Real Change Is Elsewhere
By Monica Rodriguez
Managing Director, Southern Europe
For over a decade, the digital industry has developed an almost total dependency on third-party cookies and Google. What was once an efficient solution has become a brake on innovation, perpetuating inequalities and undermining user trust. Despite Google’s announcements, from 2020 to today (and now we are in 2025), the situation remains unclear.
It is surprising to see how the industry has “normalized” this wait, operating at the pace dictated by a single company. But alternatives exist, and change is already underway. Leading players such as major European media, top advertising agencies, consultancy firms, and major brands are already adopting more responsible models.
A Mandate, Not a Trend: Privacy First
In a context where 70% of European citizens perceive excessive power of big tech companies over their data, this transition is not just necessary but urgent. As a marketing professional, but also as a user and a parent, I feel the responsibility to contribute to a new model: one that does not rely on opaque tracking, but on relationships of trust and transparency.
Today, we have the tools to measure, segment, and personalise using ethical technologies, without third-party cookies and unnecessary surveillance. What is missing is not the technical ability, but a collective will. We can no longer delay: it’s time to act. As regulatory pressure increases and the scope of cookies reduces, the industry must free itself from monopolistic control and embrace alternatives that prioritise privacy and consent, built for an open and reliable internet.
Cookies Are Outdated, The Future Is Multi-Signal
The industry has spent the last five years preparing for the end of third-party cookies. The reason is simple: they no longer work. They lose data, slow down the web, offer poor match rates, and leave publishers in the dark about their audience. Keeping this obsolete technology doesn’t solve the privacy challenge; it prolongs it. Third-party cookies are a relic from an era before user consent requirements, when data governance was less relevant, and regulators had not yet imposed true accountability. We cannot build a future that prioritises privacy on yesterday’s infrastructure.
Fragmentation has already won. The reality is that third-party cookies are already a minor player in the ecosystem. Only 15% of digital time occurs in cookie-enabled environments, while 75% of content consumption takes place outside of the browser (in apps, on CTV, in gaming, and more). Advertisers today need a future-proof, adaptive approach that works wherever consumers are. This means embracing multi-signal identity solutions that are privacy-compliant by design, consistent across touchpoints, and based on relationships with transparent consent. This is not a transition that will begin next year: it is already happening.
Independence vs. Dependence: The Industry’s Choice
Publishers, advertisers, and technology providers face a crucial decision: remain bound to a monopolist whose strategies are increasingly under regulatory scrutiny, or embark on the path of independence by adopting new identity models based on transparency and trust.
Solutions are emerging that are designed from the ground up to protect privacy and give users control over their data. These are technologies that work without third-party cookies, capable of operating in heterogeneous environments like mobile apps, CTV, gaming, and the web, ensuring consistent tracking and respect for consent. Among these are models like Utiq, supported by European telco operators, which focus on explicit and verifiable consent-based identifiers. In parallel, tools like Unified ID 2.0 (The Trade Desk), RampID (LiveRamp), ID5, and Panorama ID (Lotame) offer alternative approaches based on first-party data and interoperability. Others completely abandon user identification in favour of advanced contextual targeting.
These solutions represent a concrete response to the cookie-based model crisis: not just a technical replacement, but a structural change in the relationship between companies and people.
A response that cannot be delayed: according to Gartner’s predictions, by 2026, 75% of the global population will be covered by data privacy regulations. The most forward-thinking brands are already moving in this direction, favouring partners and technologies that meet these requirements.
This is not a marginal trend, but the evolutionary trajectory of digital marketing. The uncertainty caused by continuous delays only amplifies the urgency to act. The industry needs courageous decisions, not further postponements. It’s time to show leadership, join those already building credible and sustainable alternatives, and steer the industry towards a future that puts people at the centre.
